I agree with Fiona about the Ficus - they have shocking root systems and should never be used near pools, houses etc. The width of your retaining wall from the photo looks really narrow, so you are going to have trouble growing most things in there; even the Pittosporums will eventually cause structural damage to the walls. The width of any garden bed should be ideally 1.5 metres at least for proper root establishment. This seems to be hard for most people to understand, but the bigger the plant, the wider the root system. So either widen the retaining wall or you will need to keep the plant lower. The pears mentioned also will never work. 5 years is the testing time of a good garden. When first planted they can look great, but they often break down as they grow. The Ficus and Pears' root systems will keep on expanding after the 5 year period with the Ficus having surface roots that cause massive damage to paving, concrete etc. Google it! And I have seen first hand the damage done by another Landscaper's work, based on inexperience. Get professional advice if in doubt - it is worth it if you get a good one. Alison

hi Emma, I was thinking along your garden bed to your entrance 3 large raphis palms underplanted with xanadu would look really lush, continue mass planting of palms and tropical foliage around your pool area, a large beautiful feature pot maybe white or light grey,( pinterest have lots of inspiration) mass planted with mother in laws tongue or cycad would look wonderful at your entrance near street ,lucky you having such a great site to work with.

Help! We need some advice for landscaping ideas near the front of our house and entry way. We have already completed a rock garden edge and put in tropical plants in the raised garden bed near our mail box. We are requiring a garden that allows us to access the chemical termite barrier as we live next to a bit of bushland and termites are active in the area. We are thinking of two large potted golden canes near the entrance where that current large shrub is (shrub will be removed). This is so that when you walk from the mailbox straight through to the front door it provides a bit of privacy from the public walkway that runs parallel to our property. We were thinking of a heliconia either side of the front large window (master bedroom) and surrounded by rocks at the base and maybe some plants to fill it out to hide the pots and rocks a little? We were thinking of rock mulch for the floor. We are also putting in a front fence that will have black/dark gray vertical slats and an electric sliding gate for added privacy. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated to lift up our street appeal.

You can enclose your water meter in a plastic guard, you dig down around the meter lower the guard over it then bring soil up around to support it, it has a lid for easy access for the meter reader, we have one of these in the garden bed and it is not noticeable at all , available from Bunnings.